THIS MUST BE THE PLACE

‘Life is full of beautiful things’. Indeed, one of which is Paolo Sorrentino’s This Must be the Place, the story of aging rock-star Cheyenne (Sean Penn), who embarks upon the search for the Nazi war criminal who tormented his father. Aphoristic phrases like this punctuate the landscape of the film; a beautiful blending of portraiture, poetry, photography, music and performance that amounts to being very cinematic. The world of the film is a surreal collision of Holocaust Germany, 70s rock and a present-day of contradictions, simultaneously inviting and alienating, sumptuous and desolate. Penn is exemplary, original music by David Bryne and Will Oldham, likewise. If you find yourself at the movies and can resist the gravitational pull of Hunger Games definitely see this film – worth the price of admission for the scene set at a David Byrne concert alone. (ABr)